Linux seller Red Hat has moved to a strategy that lets it adopt the latest technology more aggressively for its lower-end products, a strategy that will become visible March 31 with the release of Red Hat Linux 9, code-named Shrike.

The Raleigh, N.C.-based company has just completed splitting its product line in two: the slow-changing premium Red Hat Enterprise Linux version for businesses and the free Red Hat Linux version for enthusiasts. Establishing the RHEL option for conservative customers freed up Red Hat to accept more flexibility with the RHL line, said Matt Wilson, manager of Red Hat's base operating system, in an interview Tuesday.

"We wanted to be able to have a little more fluidity in Red Hat Linux...so we get the best open-source technologies that are available and stable," Wilson said. "It's a new way of thinking that we're able to do now that we have Red Hat Enterprise Linux with the longer support lifecycles."

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